Guard threatened at blaze-hit shop

A security guard was allegedly threatened with a machete after catching looters attempting to steal stock from a fire-ravaged Shropshire supermarket.

The guard was keeping watch at the Spar in Malinslee, Telford, which was reduced to a charred shell in an arson attack last week, when he heard noises around the back of the site at about 6.30 last night.

• Blaze as it happened - click here

Telford police spokesman Chris Ammonds said the guard found three men attempting to put leftover stock, including cans of beer, into carrier bags.

He added: "One of the men picked a knife of some sort up and threatened him with it. The guard went away and came back with a colleague, at which point the men fled and dropped the bag."

The security guard, who did not wish to be named, said: "As I approached the men, one of them picked up what looked to me like a machete off the floor. He was making threats and seemed prepared to use it."

One of the men is described as white, in his mid-20s, about 6ft, with short hair, and had a scar running from his nose to his mouth. Another, also in his 20s, is about 5ft 8in with black hair. The third was stocky, about 5ft 11in, with blond hair.

Seven people arrested on suspicion of arson have been released on police bail.